Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Derbyshire farm shop Croots has been named as a place that’s
serving up some of England’s top steak after scooping a silver in England’s
Best Sirloin Steak 2015 competition.

The farm shop near Duffield has won scores of awards for its
sausages, pies and meat products, but this is the first award that’s been
dedicated solely to the steak.

Store owner Steve Croot, who is the current Derbyshire Food
Hero, said: “This is fantastic news for Croots. We do get a lot of compliments
for our steaks, and they are very popular with our customers, but it’s really
great to hear that the judges in these awards felt the same.”

The awards were organised by EBLEX, the trade organisation
for the English beef and sheep industry and were part of the first ever Quality
Standard Mark Excellence Awards, which were developed to recognise
and reward quality, innovation and excellence in beef and lamb production.

Beef sold at Croots is reared by farmers Richard and Margaret
Heath at Hazelwood Hall Farm, Hazelwood, near Belper in Derbyshire, and
prepared by the shop’s team of butchers. Sirloin steak is taken from the back
of the animal.

Croots, which is based at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth
Road, launched in June 2008 and is renowned for its extensive and award-winning
meat counter, which has doubled in size due to demand since the shop first
opened.

It employs three full-time butchers and two assistant
part-time butchers, as part of a 28-strong workforce employed in the shop and
the restaurant, Shires Eatery, which has also doubled in size since opening.

Croots Farm Shop is open daily from 9am to 5pm (Shires
Eatery until 4.30pm). Croots runs Fresh Fish Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on
Thursdays.

Friday, 23 January 2015

Coffee specialist Cherizena is celebrating ten years since
it became the first business to move onto the Wartnaby Estate on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire
border.

Kate Jones and husband Tom bought the business in 2004 from
two Northamptonshire women who had launched it some years earlier. After
running it in its existing premises for a few months, the couple moved the
business to a converted cow shed on the Wartnaby Estate – becoming the first
enterprise to move into what is now a small rural business hub.

Since then, Cherizena has steadily grown and now supplies
premium, speciality and flavoured coffees across the UK and abroad to both
consumer and trade customers.

“We were looking for somewhere to run the business from that
was not too far from our home near Melton Mowbray so we asked Wartnaby Estate
manager Geoff Johnson if there was a unit, barn or suitable space on the estate
somewhere that we could rent,” said Kate. “It was agreed that we could move
into a former cow shed. When we saw it the first time it still had straw on the
floor and a trough in the corner.

“The estate converted it into a unit, with an office and
other facilities, and we were literally the first business to move onto the
estate in January 2005. We used to have cattle and sheep looking out at us
across the farm yard when we first moved in.”

Cherizena sends out 6.5 tonnes of coffee from its premises
every year. It specialises in flavouring its own coffees, and has more than 20
different flavours available ranging from salted caramel flavour, sticky
gingerbread flavour coffee and its most recent blend, banoffee pie flavoured
coffee.

“There’s been a definite increase in demand for coffee over
the years, both in premium and speciality coffee, and in flavoured coffees,
which are particularly popular with the younger generation,” said Kate. “The
British public has a real taste for coffee at the moment.

“The amount we sell has steadily grown and we’re delighted
with the way we’ve been able to expand from our home on the Leicestershire and
Nottinghamshire border.”

As well as specialising in flavoured coffees, Cherizena at
times also supplies rare and unusual coffees from far flung places in the
world, depending on availability.

The company sells direct to customers via mail order, with
regular customers all over the UK and further afield such as Australia, USA, Cyprus
and EU countries. It also supplies to trade customers such as coffee shops,
hotels, pubs, restaurants and farm shops and regularly sends to trade customers
as far afield as Singapore and India.

Cherizena is a regular at food and drink fairs across the
country, as well as those closer to home such as Melton Mowbray Food and Drink
Festival.

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations,
Cherizena is offering 10% off everything on its website including coffees and
coffee equipment during January 2015. For more information visit www.cherizena.co.uk

Wednesday, 14 January 2015

Youngsters are being inspired to think like engineers by an interactive exhibition at the Science Museum that has been put together by a team led by Focus Consultants.

The company has been the project manager, quantity surveyor and contract administrator for Engineer Your Future – its first appointment at the museum in South Kensington, London.

Photo copyright of Science Museum

The three-year exhibition, recently opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in the museum’s contemporary science wing, puts visitors’ problem-solving skills to the test, exploring engineering through large-scale, high quality interactive games and digital experiences that bring to life the skills engineers use every day.

It is hoped the free exhibition will encourage more young people to enter engineering as a profession in the future.

Focus Consultants, which is based at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, and has branches in London, Leicester and in Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, has worked on projects at numerous museums over the past 20 years including the Victoria & Albert, the National Army Museum and the National Maritime Museum.

Focus Associate Eleanor Clarke said: “We are very pleased to have worked alongside other highly skilled professionals in the team who have put together the Engineer Your Future exhibition, and we hope it will inspire the next generation of engineers.

“Although Focus has worked at many prestigious museums across the UK, this was our first at the Science Museum which is one of London’s major tourist attractions. We were delighted to have been appointed as the project manager for such an important exhibition that has the backing of internationally known organisations.”

Engineer Your Future has been generously supported by key organisations, including ABB, BT, EDF Energy, IBM, Mott MacDonald, National Grid, Network Rail and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, with additional support from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Inspiring the next generation of engineers is vital if the sector is to grow and compete internationally which is why a long-term commitment to world-class skills is at the heart of our Industrial Strategy.

“Through the Your Life Campaign we have joined forces with industry, academia and institutions, including the Science Museum, to encourage young people to study maths and physics. We are committed to ensuring young people have the skills employers want and need and are delighted to be investing in this innovative exhibition.”Visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk for more information.Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

Managing director of an East Midlands-based civil and
structural engineering company, David Sumner, has raised around £6,000 for the
Multiple Sclerosis Society after climbing the world’s highest free-standing
mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, for charity.

David was also part of a four-man team that raised more than
£3,500 for Plumtree Cricket Club. Their efforts have kick started an appeal to
develop a second ground at the Nottinghamshire club so the club can provide the
best facilities for disabled cricketers and encourage more young players, and
those who are less able, to take part in the game.

“It was the most amazing experience, and I am delighted and
proud to have raised so much money for two causes that are very close to my
heart,” said David. “I’m very grateful to those who sponsored me and donated to
either or both fundraising efforts. A big thank you to everyone, including many
firms in the construction, development and property sector in the East Midlands
who supported my challenge.”

David, who jointly founded Nottingham-based BSP Consulting
in 1999, was part of a

30-strong group of people who tackled Mount Kilimanjaro,
which is 19,341 feet above sea level.

He undertook the challenge to raise money for MS research as
his wife Pat has lived with the debilitating condition for around 20 years. As
a member of Plumtree Cricket Club, he also wanted to support the appeal to
expand club facilities and climbed the peak with three fellow cricket club members
- Steve Daft, Patrick Shortt and Tony Westbrook.

“Physically it was a tough challenge but when we reached the
top it was literally breathtaking. Not only are you gasping for breath due to
the altitude, the view above the clouds is quite astonishing. It was stunning
and well worth the climb,” added David.

BSP Consulting has its headquarters at Oxford Street,
Nottingham, and branches in Derby, Leicester and Sheffield. It operates across
the UK, providing a comprehensive range of services to all sectors of the
construction industry from architects, project managers and contractors to
developers and estate agents.

Monday, 5 January 2015

A charity which promotes and protects one of the nation’s
favourite horse breeds has unveiled a new website to help raise awareness of
the animals.

The Shire Horse Society has updated its website with a fresh
new look and a wealth of information about the horses, which as a breed almost
died out a few decades ago.

The website www.shire-horse.org.uk
features a library of documents, a calendar of events, details of the charity’s
approved centres, an up-to-date news page, as well as a section showcasing horses
for sale and links to the group’s social media feeds.

It also hosts a webshop stocked with Shire horse-related
gifts from jigsaws, cards, and mugs to hooded tops, t-shirts and ties.

“We are using the new website as a platform to raise
awareness of the Shire horse and the work we and our breeders are doing to
protect this wonderful breed,” said Shire
Horse Society secretary David Ralley-Davies.

The charity, which
is based at Rockingham Castle, near Corby, is the only charity dedicated
to the protection, promotion and improvement of the Shire horse. Since
1878 the organisation has been working to protect the breed, which was then known
as the Old English Breed of Cart Horse.

Annually it holds the largest gathering of Shire horses in
the world. The next Shire Horse National Show takes place on March 21 and 22 2015
at Arena UK, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, and is expected to feature 250 Shire
horses from around Europe.

“Shire horses have
had a fascinating history in the UK, and were once used in many trades and in a
range of roles, but when technology advanced, the need for Shire horses fell. Numbers
dropped from well over a million to just a handful by the 1960s and the breed
was in serious trouble. Since then a group of enthusiasts has worked to ensure
that the breed survives,” said David.

“We hope our new
website will play a key role in ensuring that this work continues and thrives.”

About Perfect 10 PR

Perfect 10 PR is run by Louise Duffield, who has worked in the media industry since 1987. As a qualified journalist, who has written for both regional and national newspapers and magazines, Louise knows how the media works and what makes a good story.

Here you will find details of client news, updates from Perfect 10 PR, which is based in Nottingham, and the occasional comment.